Re: What Rye Are You Drinking? Summer 2013

Single barrel effect? The 23 is young vibrant and very rye forward, the 21 was very muted zero nose and only a small rye punch the 25 is dark and woody almost too sweet more dessert oriented.

Great point on the single barrel factor. I agree that the older 25 is like a rich desert whiskey. I would give you my impressions of the 21 & 23, but just reverse yours, throw over-oaked in for the 23, and it captures my thoughts exactly. Maybe all that dusty Old Overholt juice you have been drinking has warped your palate - better send it to me.

Re: What Rye Are You Drinking? Summer 2013

Originally Posted by michaelturtle1

I think the 21 is from barrel #28(devilighter can confirm that) the 23 yr is also barrel #28 and the 25 yr is barrel #2

The Ritt 21 was barrel 28. I concur with Mike about his thoughts on the three bottlings we sampled - the 21 being the least favorite of mine and the 23 being the best. I like his bottle of 25 a lot as well (it made me need to go out and purchase a set of older Ritt bottles), but the proof, combined with the wood make it difficult to drink a lot of. The 23 was a sweet spot, with the notes I loved in the 25, but easier to drink. I am not sure what to think of the 21, and I should note that it was one of two unopened bottles I brought to Mike's which disappointed and which were opened immediately before sampling, while the 23 and 25 had been open for longer, with the 25 being open much longer, so perhaps it will come around.

The other disappointing bottling was a Batch 1 Bourye I purchased earlier in the day. I opened the bottle up tonight, two nights later, and get a much more interesting and vibrant nose than I did at Mike's, even without pouring a glass. I did the same for the Ritt 21, but it is still somewhat muted, albeit there does seem like a monster may be hiding underneath (reminds me of a Barolo that needs some air to shine). It will be interesting to revisit the bottle in the future. This batch was the highest rated by Jim Murray when he sampled all 31 bottlings (how that is possible I do not know!). He called it "salivating, roasty, major", so take that as you will.